


This Was a Great Idea—Until it wasn’t

by Ambrosia_678



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Bodyswap, Crack, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Redemption, Gen, Humor, Nathalie Sancoeur Does Not Get Paid Enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26352163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambrosia_678/pseuds/Ambrosia_678
Summary: Bodyswap AUDuring one of his Chinese lessons with Master Fu, Adrien complains about his relationship with his father. Being the helpful mentor he is, Fu decides to stick his nose in other people’s business.Now Adrien and Gabriel are stuck in each other’s bodies. Gabriel has to deal with human interaction. (The  horror!) Adrien keeps hitting his head on things.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Master Fu, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 34
Kudos: 167
Collections: September 2020 - Fulfill A Prompt





	1. Then he got an idea. An awful idea. Master Fu had a wonderful, awful idea.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurpleFlower04](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleFlower04/gifts).



> This is based off a prompt from **Princess Flower** on the Miraculous Fanworks discord. Thank you for the lovely idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from _The Grinch Who Stole Christmas_ (Except it doesn’t say Master Fu, obviously).

“I’m here for Adrien’s Chinese lesson,” Fu says. 

Nathalie nods, “Right this way sir.”

She opens the door to Adrien’s bedroom. Adrien is banging his head on his computer table. 

“Perhaps you should come back later,” Nathalie starts to close the door.

The man pushes past her, “No, this is a teachable moment. I can handle it.”

She raises an eyebrow and walks away. 

“You look troubled.” Fu approaches the disgruntled teenager. 

Adrien lifts his head up, “What gave you that impression?”

“Your aura is puce.” The older man does not pick up on his sarcasm. Not, apparently, does he find the head banging all that peculiar. 

_Great. Now my head hurts and my aura is a flea._

“Would you like to tell me about your problems?”

“Not particularly.”

“Would you like to continue hitting your head?” 

“Yes.”

“Hmm... I don’t think you should do that,” the wise old man says knowledgeably. “It can be rather painful.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Adrien lies. 

Fu crosses his arms. “Is this because of Ladybug?” 

“No.”

“Is it because you always smell like Camembert?”

“No.”

“Is it because you wear the same shirt every day even though you’re a fashion model?”

“...no?”

“Is it—“

“Father won’t have dinner with me!” Adrien blurts out. His ears turn slightly pink as he realizes his outburst.

“Oh.” Fu nods, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “That must be disappointing.” _He_ would rather not spend any time around the older Agreste, but things must be different when it comes to his son. 

“Ever since Mom died he’s been really different. He doesn’t leave the house. Sometimes I hear him randomly cackling in the other room. But he never cackles for me. Not even when I tell him my hilarious puns!”

”I see.” 

Fu has a spectacular idea. An idea possibly related to his watching of _Freaky Friday_ the day before. 

“Sorry Adrien, I have to go!”

Adrien stares at him, “But you haven’t even taught me any Chinese!”

“Use Google Translate. It gets at least a third of the words right.” 

With those words of wisdom, Fu flees the mansion. He has to get everything set up for tomorrow!

(The next day is a Tuesday, but Fu is not a very patient man.)

_**The next morning...** _

Gabriel Agreste emerges from his son’s room, wearing clothes much too small for him. He is squinting and his arms are out in front of him, like they’re grasping for something that isn’t there. 

“Hello Mr. Agreste,” Nathalie says calmly, because nothing is strange behaviour when it comes to that man. 

“Nathalie?” he asks, stumbling towards her. She realizes he’s not wearing any glasses. 

“Yes sir. Would you like me to find you your glasses?”

“I don’t wear glasses.” 

Gabriel has worn glasses for almost thirty years now. 

“Of course not.”

“And you _know_ you can just call me Adrien.”

Nathalie blinks. She’s pretty sure they’ve never had that discussion before. “Um... don’t you think that would get a little confusing?”

“Why would it be confusing?” Gabriel scrunches up his face like she’s said something outlandish.

Nathalie sighs. Does she really have to remind him that he has a child? 

At that moment, Adrien runs towards them, screaming. “HEEEELLLP! I SHRUNK!” 

He locks eyes with his father. Immediately the screaming stops. The boy’s eyes travel down his body, from the grey-blond hair to the tightly stretched shirt to the pants that end just below the knee. 

“What are you doing in my body?” Adrien whispers. 

Nathalie had not been prepared for that.

Shame on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn’t know, ‘puce’ means flea in French, and is a dark red or purple-brown colour in English.


	2. This is Sadly Not the Strangest thing to Happen to Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Casually enters with a chapter more than double the length*

“We must have been hit by an akuma,” Adrien-in-Gabriel’s-body glances at the silver ring on his finger. _At least Father doesn’t have my miraculous. That would be hard to explain._

Gabriel-in-Adrien’s-body snorts. “I sincerely doubt that.”

Adrien looks up, confused, “Why?”

Gabriel stiffens, “Um... just because, you know...” 

Adrien does know a lot of things. People have even given him the esteemed title of ‘know it all.’ But he does not know why his father’s face is suddenly bright red. 

“Are you having a stroke?” Adrien asks helpfully. 

“What? No. I’m fourteen right now, remember?”

“So why don’t you think it’s an akuma?”

Gabriel regrets not faking a stroke. 

“Because...” he looks desperately around the dining room, trying to find inspiration, “Because... you see... um... teapot!”

”Teapot?” Adrien says the word very slowly, like that will somehow force it to make sense. 

“Yes!” Gabriel nods vigorously, “Nathalie will explain.”

Nathalie does not want to expain. But she is a very good employee and will be getting a raise for this (or she will have a few choice words with Gabriel) so she tries her best. 

“Teapot is... an employee.” There, that sounds plausible. “He informs us when there are akuma attacks in our vicinity. And, um... he hasn’t contacted us.”

“Oh.” Adrien nods, seemingly content. Then his eyes widen, “Wait—his name is Teapot? That’s such a weird name!”

“It’s your father’s nickname for him.”

“Father uses nicknames?” A smile spreads across his face, “He should give me a nickname! How about Child-I-Listen-To? Or maybe I-Love-You-Son?”

Gabriel glares at Nathalie. She has the feeling she won’t be getting that raise. 

“No.” Gabriel says, “Your name is Adrien and that is what I will call you.”

Adrien slumps down in his chair. 

Nathalie glances at her tablet, and is shocked to see the time. “Adrien will be late for school.”

“How am I going to go to school like this?”

“You’ll have to take the day off.” Gabriel waves his hand absently. 

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Natalie says. 

“Why?”

“He’s had a lot of absences this year. If he continues, he’ll have to repeat the grade.”

Gabriel lets out a huff, “Well he is certainly not prancing around looking like me for the day!”

Nathalie and Adrien glance around each other.

“That’s not the only option...” she says delicately. 

“No!” Gabriel shakes his head. “Absolutely not. No way. No.”

He is still vocalizing his protests as he gets pushed out of the car and onto the school campus. 

“Hey, dude.” The bad influence in human form grins at him. 

“Hi,” Gabriel squeaks, possibly terrified. 

The ladyblogger walks up to him, arm in arm with the fashion prodigy— _Marinette._

“Hello Marinette. ” he says, grateful to know someone’s name. 

The girl’s face goes red, and her eyes widen. “Hey Adrien. You’re hot— _I mean not hot obviously._ Toaster! Not you—you aren’t toasted—toast.” 

She stops taking and stares at him mournfully, the decides to give it one more go. “Do you like sandwiches?”

“Um...”

She clearly has a crush on Adrien. And she’s not the first girl, either. But as far as he knows, she’s one of only two girls Adrien mentioned. 

Adrien _cannot_ date. That would be _very bad_ for the brand. 

“Marinette?” He says again, softer this time. 

She nods. Her face is still a spectacular shade of pink. 

Gabriel winces internally at the cruelty of what he is about to say, but there is no way around it. 

“You’re a very good friend. You’re like the sister I never had.”

Marinette’s face goes white. 

The bell rings, and Gabriel takes the chance to escape the incredibly awkward situation. He ducks into Adrien’s homeroom class. At least he won’t have to to see Marinette ever again... 

Wait why is she coming in here?

_**Back at the Mansion...** _

Adrien stands in front of his father’s podium, adjusting his tie. He is not having any fun playing dress up. He is definitely not making strange poses. 

The atelier doors open. Nathalie enters the room, typing on her tablet. 

“Hello Nathalie,” he says, then almost squeals because his voice is deep now. 

She glances at him, then goes back to typing, “What are you doing?”

“I’m being Father,” he says, very confidently and without any doubt whatsoever. “ _Someone_ has to run the business, you know.”

“And luckily that ‘someone’ has not been swapped with a teenager.”

Adrien wrinkles his brow. He has no clue what she’s talking about. But he is being Father, so he will stick his nose in the air and say something Father-ish. 

“Get me a black coffee.”

Nathalie looks up at the ceiling and walks off. 

Adrien goes back to his definitely-not-posing. Twenty seven not-poses and one bruised elbow later, she returns with his coffee. 

“Here you go, _sir_.” 

There is a strange expression on her face but Adrien doesn’t try to decipher it. He is far too excited by the prospect of drinking coffee. 

He brings the cup to his lips, excited to finally taste adulthood. 

“Blaaaeeugghh!!” Adrien spits it out, and then wipes off his tongue, and then realizes there are now tongue marks on his cuff. “That is DISGUSTING!”

“Your father enjoys it.” She starts to leave the room, but then pauses as ringing noise echoes off the marble walls. 

Adrien looks around. _Where is that coming from?_ The answer, apparently, is his tablet. 

“Nathalie what do I do?” he might be screaming. 

“Much better impression. You sound just like him.”

_**Meanwhile...** _

Gabriel cannot stand being a teenager for one more _second_! He needs to leave this classroom, and fast. 

“Excuse me! I need to use the bathroom.”

“Yes Adrien.” Mlle. Bustier says, but it’s rather pointless. He’s already charging out of the room. 

She is sadly unsurprised. The strangest part of the situation is that there hasn’t been an akuma alert.

Gabriel runs into the restroom. The door slams shut behind him. The place is empty, thank goodness. Still, he opts for the privacy of a stall. 

“Nooroo?” He whispers. 

The quami emerges from his white over-shirt. It’s surprisingly good at hiding him, almost like it was designed specifically for that. 

“What?” The Quami rubs his eyes. 

“Do not talk to me that way!” Gabriel crosses his arms. _He_ is the only one allowed to act like a petulant child. 

“Sorry master. I’ve just tried Camambert and it’s making me sleepy.”

“Fascinating.” 

Gabriel wonders if it would be rude to plug his nose. Adrien never seems to mind, so he supposes it’s alright. 

“I need to transform.”

 _That_ certainly gets his attention. “What? Master, no! Not while you’re in your son’s body!”

“Dark wings rise.”

Gabriel is about to examine his new appearance when he hears the bathroom door open. He jumps onto the toilet seat so whoever it is doesn’t see his feet. 

“Hey, dude,” the person says. 

_Oh no. Not him again._

Gabriel buries his head in his hands and leans against the wall. “I’m a little busy?”

“Right, yeah. I _totally_ get that. You just looked kinda freaked out earlier. So...”

_Please leave please leave please leave!_

“...I just wants to check on you. Do you need some more toilet paper? A change of pants?”

_Is he implying—?_

“No thank you.” He tries to keep his voice level. 

“Alright. If you need anything, I got you. Later.”

“Later.” Gabriel mumbles. 

Finally, the boy leaves.

Gabriel reaches out to grasp the nearest negative emotion. Now to akumatize... 

Wait, where are the butterflies?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of this chapter? 
> 
> Full disclosure, I have no clue how long chapter 3 will be, or how long I will take to update. I’m starting school again (finally!) and the program is supposed to be super competitive and time-consuming. I’ll try to keep the wait less than a week, but no promises.


	3. The Adventures of Butterfly Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this would be the last chapter, but then it got way too long and I still had more to add, so I broke it into two parts. Don't worry, chapter four (the actual final chapter) will be up in a couple days.

Adrien’s school is nothing short of disgusting. If Gabriel’s suit didn’t regenerate every time he transformed, well… He would be crying daintily, splayed out in an incredible pose, mourning the loss of his shoes. So far he’s stepped in gum, toilet paper that stuck to the gum, something sticky he doesn’t want to think about, and three band aids. 

At least nobody has seen him yet.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Gabriel would love to say that that scream comes from the person he just bumped into. It doesn’t. But in his defense, he hasn’t been shorter than someone in a long time and skull on this boy’s shirt is quite terrifying. 

The boy smiles calmly and pats him on the shoulder, “Sorry you were akumatized, but you have a great voice. Can you join my band?”

“What?” Gabriel stares at the boy. He’s not even pretending to be scared! Well, he’ll just have to teach this boy a lesson. He puffs out his chest and makes his voice deeper, “You _dare_ oppose me? Run, pest, before I destroy you!”

“You’ll be perfect.” The giant boy nods his head. “Mylene is going to be so happy.”

“Um…” Gabriel weighs his options. On the one hand, he can continue his potentially doomed search for butterflies. On the other, he can run away from his responsibilities, pretend to be an akumatized teenager, and finally join a band with high standards. 

Tough call.

Before he can accept the proposal, there’s another scream. Not his this time, thank goodness. Sausage hair girl—er, _Lila_ has materialized in the hallway. She continues to scream as she points at him. Well, that’s a bit excessive. A short scream and then fainting would have been better. 

The redheaded teacher and some teenagers he won’t interact with stream out of the classroom door. 

“Lila? What happened?”

“The butterfly boy!” She points a shaking finger at Gabriel, “He was about to attack me!”

“I am not the Butterfly Boy!” He has been turned into a short child and handled it. He has been forced to go to school again and handled it. He has _gotten toilet paper on his shoe_ and handled it. But being called Butterfly Boy? That’s just too much.

He runs towards Lila, intent on making her pay for her insults. But then something wraps around his waist and he’s flipped upside-down and dangling in the air.

“Hello there, Butterfly Boy.” Ladybug smiles. 

_**Back in the Mansion…** _

It’s kind of nice, having Adrien pretend to be her boss. He’s quieter. And he’s not prancing around, shouting his monologues and disrupting her schedule with ill-timed akuma attacks. 

“Nathalie? What are you doing?” Adrien leans over her shoulder, nose practically pressed to her computer screen.

 _That_ , she doesn’t so much appreciate. 

“I’m writing an email.” 

Trying to. Not only is his face obscuring her screen, he has his elbow on her keyboard. She watches in resignation as a combination of t’s g’s and f’s clutter her otherwise professionally written email.

“To who?”

Maybe if he took his face out of her screen, he would be able to read that himself. 

“It’s _whom_ , Adrien.”

“Their name is Hoom?”

Nathalie wonders if it was her who taught him badly, or if public education turned his brain to mush. Either way it’s kind of her fault… 

Both of their phones vibrate. Adrien jumps away, sending her coffee mug teetering over the desk’s edge. She lunges to grab it, just barely catching it before it hits the ground. 

“Guess what?” Adrien asks, staring at his phone.

Nathalie sighs and takes a sip of the coffee, motioning for him to go on.

“There’s an akuma attack!”

Scalding brown liquid spills onto Nathalie’s lap. She jumps to her feet, cursing a couple times. “What? What makes you think that?”

Adrien’s eyes are so wide they look like they are about to pop out of his head, “Did you just swear?”

“No,” she squeaks. 

Nathalie pulls out her own phone and turns away. (She does not need Adrien to see her face turn into a tomato.) The screen lights up. She holds her breath as she reads the message. **Akuma Alert: ‘Butterfly Boy’ akuma spotted at Francois DuPont**

There’s a sinking feeling in her chest as she waits for the image to load. She tries to tune out Adrien’s stuttered half-sentences. And then the image comes into focus. There Hawk Moth is, hanging upside-down as Ladybug smiles at him. Granted, he is a few feet shorter and his Adrien hair is in plain view, but that’s _definitely_ him. For some reason, he’s decided to transform. 

Idiot.

She clears her throat and turns back to Adrien. “I’m going to go change, will you be okay alone for a little while?”

“You just—That was—The sausages…” 

Nathalie sighs. His brain is apparently still rebooting. She looks around, and when she’s satisfied that there’s nothing he might accidentally choke on, walks out of the room. 

“Dusuu, spread my feathers.” 

Mayura jumps out of the nearest window. 

A little boy looks up and sees her. Years later, he will tell his children the story of the Flying Purple People Eater.

_**At Francoise DuPont…** _

Ladybug is feeling fairly proud of herself. In mere seconds she has gotten Butterfly Boy under her complete control. She walks around him, making sure to keep a firm grasp on her end of the yo-yo string. Butterfly Boy shimmies around and sticks his tongue out at her. He’s probably a little kid, then. 

“Hello, m’lady,” Chat Noir drops down beside her.

“Hi, kitty. I can’t find his akumatized object. Any ideas?” She squints at the embroidery on the boy’s jacket. 

“Hmm…” Chat places his hand on her shoulder.

Ladybug turns to glare at him. Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. The person she _thought_ was Chat Noir fluffs his hair and blows her a kiss. She blinks slowly, brain trying to comprehend what she is seeing. He smiles and bats his eyelashes. 

“W-what happened to you?” she asks. Because Chat Noir… does not look like her kitty. More like an old street cat.

“Nothing?” Chat Noir blanches. “I mean, I know I’m taller, but like I had a growth spurt recently? I’m fine. Everything’s—”

“What happened to this?” She reaches out to touch the ice-cream cone shaped mound of hair. It’s grey and coarse.

“Um, I was under a lot of stress recently? Stress made my hair suddenly grey. And also made me tall!”

Ladybug jerks back, “What? Stress does that??”

“Yeah…?” Chat stares at her, not exactly sure why his lady is so upset. Does she think he’s ugly now? More importantly, can he tell people Ladybug thinks his father is ugly? Would that compromise his identity?

“I’m going to be a grey-haired giant!” Ladybug moans, “Oh no—I’m getting stressed about this too! Is that making it worse? How do I get less stressed out I’m a teenage superhero!” She whips her head around and grabs Chat by the shoulders, shaking him (literally) out of his thoughts. “On a scale of one to ten how grey is my hair?”

“Um…” Her hair looks blue, not grey, but he’s not sure if it’s rude to tell her that.

“It’s so grey isn’t it?” Ladybug moans.

Before Chat Noir tell her it’s not, and he would love her even if it was, Mayura punches him in the face.

“Mayura!” Ladybug growls. 

She throws her yo-yo at her, therefore dropping Butterfly Boy on his head. Mayura easily dodges, of course. You don’t lift your knee in the air while you throw and expect to hit your target.

“I’m not Butterfly Boy!” The newly named Butterfly Boy shouts indignantly. 

Mayura raises one of her invisible eyebrows at him, and then goes back to hitting Ladybug with her fan. It’s ridiculously successful. 

“Cataclysm!” Chat charges at her, intent on protecting his lady.

Butterfly Boy spots a butterfly. Intent on protecting his lady, he sends it flying towards her fan.

Chat’s palm connects with the butterfly.

It crumbles to dust.

Everyone freezes.

They stare at Butterfly Boy.

“He just made an akuma…” Ladybug says softly.

Chat Noir looks at the relatively short boy with his messy blond hair. The boy has the butterfly miraculous. There’s only one explanation for his change in appearance. There’s only one explanation that makes sense, but he doesn’t want to believe it.

“You and Hawkmoth had a KID?!” Chat Noir shouts.

Butterfly Boy makes a noise halfway between a squeal and a moan.

Mayura shakes her head wearily, “Yes. Butterfly Boy is my son. And we’re going to leave now, if you don’t mind. This was _clearly_ —” She glares at Gabriel, “a bad idea.”

She grabs his arm and starts to drag him away, making sure to glare at the heroes as she does so. Gabriel is totally silent, probably in shock. Oh well. Still better than his monologues. 

A short beep stops her in her tracks. It can’t possible be… She looks down at his chest. Five glowing circles emanate from the center of the butterfly miraculous. She watches with growing horror as the center circle flickers and disappears.

“Get them!” Ladybug shouts. She and the strange-looking Chat Noir rush towards them. 

That’s Mayura’s cue to scoop Butterfly Boy in her arms and vault away. 

Ladybug tries to follow, but then Chat’s too-long leg gets caught in her pigtail (somehow), and when they finally disentangle themselves Mayura and Butterfly Boy are nowhere to be seen.

“Wanna go on a date?” Chat says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited to know what you think of this chapter.


	4. Gabriel Hates All Ladybugs

Mayura drops down in an abandoned alleyway just in time. Butterfly Boy’s costume melts away, revealing a not even _slightly_ ashamed teenager. Mayura grabs his wrist when the costume disappears, which is a bit excessive. _He’s_ not the one who collapses when he detransforms. 

He tries to pull his arm away. She glares at him. The alleyway smells like dirty socks. She isn’t blinking. 

In all his wisdom, Gabriel decides to open his mouth. “I had a... very good plan, by the way. A private plan. Don’t ask me about it. And it does exist. So don’t be mad!”

“I’m not mad.” The corners of her mouth pull up in a way that makes him want to hide. “Why would I be mad?”

“No reason. Of course. Okay. We should probably get back home then—“

“There’s no time for that.”

If someone read Gabriel’s mind at that moment, they would see a series of purple question marks pop up. And explode. And then be replaced by more question marks, this time orange. 

“What?” Gabriel eventually asks. 

“You have to get to your photo shoot.”

_“WHAT??”_

_**Fifteen minutes (and one temper tantrum) later...** _

Vincent is a photographer. Not a babysitter. He’s fine working with children, as long as they’re professional. Adrien is normally alright to work with (even though he often disappears mid-photoshoot). 

Not today. 

“Smile,” Vincent moans, “Smile like... like the baby otters are holding hands.”

Gabriel does not feel like smiling. And he hates otters. He glares at Nathalie. 

Vincent pales, “No no not like that, that’s worse.”

“That’s it— I’m done,” Gabriel crosses his arms. 

“I like you, and I wish I could...” Vincent’s tone makes Gabriel’s heart skip. 

_Finally this nightmare will be over. I’ll go home and curl up in bed. Maybe eat my secrets stash of cookies!_

“...But I need a job. We’re almost done... Just a couple more photographs?” 

“How many?” Gabriel sighs. 

A commotion saves Vincent from having to tell him ‘all of them, you looked like you were constipated.’ 

Lila Rossi walks up to him, “I’m so sorry I’m late. You don’t mind?” a wide smile is on her face. (Gabriel wonders how she keeps it there.)

“Aah, Miss Rossi!” Vincent claps his hands together. Maybe he can save this photoshoot after all. “Finally! What took so long?”

“Oh,” Lila’s smile drops. “There was an akuma attack. This kid in a purple suit, one of the better dressed akumas. I think he was a jealous fan.”

Gabriel tries not to look offended. His akumas have incredible costumes, no matter what literally everyone else says. 

“That sounds terrible. I’m glad you’re here now,” Vincent places his hand on Lila’s shoulder. 

“Of course! I would never miss a photoshoot. And my BFF Ladybug will always protect me from akumas.” Lila takes a seat next to Gabriel and leans her head against his. 

Gabriel gapes at her. Best friends with Ladybug? She _lied_ to him? Do she and Adrien get along because they both love Ladybug?

“YOU’RE FIRED!” Gabriel shouts, pointing a finger at Lila and not caring how much he sounds like Audrey. “FIRED FIRED FIRED FIRED FIRED!”

Master Fu hides behind a tree, watching the commotion from a distance. “This is going better than expected.”

Wayzz glances sceptically at the old man, “Is this your first time at a photoshoot?”

Master Fu ignores him, chuckling to himself. If there were any onlookers, they would have compared his laugh to the Evil Queen’s. 

“You should turn them back now.” Wayzz says. 

“Not while everyone is watching.” Master Fu says, with no ulterior motivation whatsoever. He pulls out a bucket of popcorn. 

Nathalie has been enjoying her magically dried pants and lukewarm coffee. She’s been feeling pretty good about her parenting techniques... But now Gabriel has started shouting ‘fired’ at every moving creature. 

She sighs and gets to her feet. She can’t let him ruin Adrien’s reputation. 

“YOU’RE ESPECIALLY FIRED!!!” He shouts at an _actual_ ladybug. 

Nathalie approaches him on tiptoe. 

Vincent looks at her worriedly, “Is he okay?”

“Fine,” she lunges and grabs Gabriel’s shirt. “Just... you know... teenagers. He tried coffee. It didn’t go very well.”

“Oh.” Vincent eyes her mug worriedly. “I didn’t know that could happen.”

“I HATE YOOOUUUUU!” Gabriel shouts. 

“Do you have any other explanation?” Nathalie asks. 

Vincent, for some reason, doesn’t perfectly guess the entire situation. He shakes his head and says something about rescheduling later. 

Nathalie nods and begins to drag Gabriel to the mansion. The walk home is neither quiet nor pleasant. But when they finally reach the gates, Gabriel runs up and kisses them. 

“I don’t think that’s hygienic.” Nathalie says. 

“Home...” Gabriel replies dreamily, patting the bars.

“Right.” Nathalie looks down at her key ring and thumbs through the keys, looking for the one to open the gates.

_House, car, storage locker containing Mayura merch..._

There’s a squeak and a ripping noise. 

Nathalie’s head jerks up. 

Gabriel—actual Gabriel in actual Gabriel’s body—stands in front of her. Adrien’s shirt looks like a crop top on him, and when she looks down further she realizes where the ripping noise has come from. 

“Get me inside at once!” Gabriel crosses his arms and lifts his chin. 

“Yay... you’re back.”

_**Inside the mansion...** _

Adrien reaches up into the highest cupboard. His fingers brush against the first box in his father’s cookie stash. He leans forward to grab it... and then feels himself starting to shrink. 

“Why now?” He groans, staring pitifully at the cookies now far out of reach. 

The cookie stash has been saved for another day. Let’s only hope Adrien never finds a tall enough stool. 

_**The next day...** _

Adrien sits in the extraordinarily large dining room, enjoying the company of absolutely nobody. It’s not the worst lunch he’s ever had, but after everything that happened he’d hoped—

“Mind if I join you?” Gabriel asks, rather awkwardly. 

“Yeah sure.” Adrien tried not to grin too widely. It’s hard. It’s even harder not to jump on the table and scream with joy. 

Gabriel plops down beside him. Adrien blinks. Gabriel is still sitting there. 

“What?” Gabriel asks. “You know it’s rude to stare.”

“Sorry father.” He hesitates, then puts his hand on top of his father’s. 

Gabriel smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is _actually_ the last chapter. Let me know what you think. :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re interested in writing for, drawing, reading, or even just talking about Miraculous Ladybug, you should join the Miraculous Fanworks Discord. Here’s the link: https://discord.gg/mlfanworks


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